Quake is turning 25, and so Quake Champions is celebrating with “a rocket blast from the past” in their Summer 2021 update. Along with a number of legacy weapon customisations, the update sees the addition of one of the original 1996 Quake multiplayer maps: The Dark Zone.
This caught my eye, as someone who played original Quake multiplayer as a kid. (Yes, it was very age-inappropriate.) Some get their nostalgia kicks from JRPG remasters, I get mine from sludgy brown bricks. It doesn’t look to be directly the map as-is, but the Quake Champions version of it—one with more fluid lighting, and portals that really glow. It still looks incredibly blocky though, which is the most important thing.
Wes previously took a look back at why you should still play the original Quake as “the blueprint of 3D shooters”, and a game with plenty of wisdom to offer: “It doesn’t look so hot these days, and the fantasy setting is about as deep as a kid putting on his robe and wizard hat to cosplay. Play a few levels, though, and you’ll understand why throwback shooters like Dusk skipped 20 years of progress to go back to Quake’s school of level design. It’s still a riveting textbook. Just, you know, with guns.”
Along with the retro map and legacy weapon skins (for the Tribolt, Super Nail Gun and Railgun), the update also finesses a number of HUD and audio options, as well as improved anti-cheat measures. You can read the full breakdown on what’s new to Quake Champions at the Quake blog.